Cold
by Brin
Summary: Post X2. After leaving Xavier's Institute, Pyro finds himself swept into the dark, underground world of the Brotherhood and he meets a few interesting friends along the way.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, locations, or otherwise related things in this story that are from anything you have ever seen anywhere else. I do, however, own any and all original characters in this story.

Summary: Continuation from the movie. May or may not be more than a few chapters.

A/N: I never watched the TV show or read the comics, so some things I say might be a little off – this fic is almost strictly interpretative in its information. Don't kill me for it! All I know is what I see in the movies and other fan fiction works.

Cold 

By

Brin

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Click-thack. Click-thack. Click-thack.

It was amazing how a small piece of metal and a spark of fire could be so strangely comforting.

Click-thack. Click-thack. Click-thack.

Where most people would've been annoyed by now, it seemed to Pyro that both of his escorts shared in his gratification of the rhythmic sound – either that or they simply ignored it. He glanced at Magneto, who was standing still as a statue by one of the windows. The old mutant hadn't moved for some time now, and his stillness was slightly intimidating. Mystique, skillfully flying the craft, had not said a word since takeoff. Occasionally she would shift into different personas – once as a blonde woman, then a raven-haired beauty, and several times a tall, animalistic-looking man. She would not stay in those forms for long, and it seemed to Pyro that she was shuffling through her mind; thinking of the individuals as she changed into them.

Or maybe the silence was getting to him.

Pyro put the lighter in his pocket and sat back, stretching his legs out, crossed at the ankles. "So where exactly are we going?" he asked idly.

For the first time in a small eternity, Magneto moved. He looked at the young mutant and replied in a calm voice, "Where _exactly_ is not something you need to worry about. Mystique will get us there, and then you will see _where exactly_."

"Fair enough." Pyro sighed and looked at Mystique. At first, he had assumed that being around her more would lessen the shock of a blue, scaly naked woman with slick, crimson hair – but that wasn't happening. Every time he looked at her, he had to blink a few times to believe it. "What kind of gel do you use?" he asked her, hoping they had a sense of humor.

For his efforts, Magneto smirked and their blue-scaled pilot gave an irritated grunt, but no other reply.

"Almost there," announced Magneto. "Come look, Brother."

Pyro rose from his seat, glad to move around, and glanced through the small window. They passed through some low clouds, his vision hindered for a moment, and then an island appeared in the middle of the sea. A great edifice sat upon it – almost wholly stone and metal. How predictable. "Impressive," commented the young man, pulling his lighter from his pocket.

"Sabertooth," Mystique spoke into her headset, "we're pulling in."

"Who's Sabertooth?" Pyro questioned his senior companion. Click-thack. Click-thack.

"An old friend," replied Magneto coolly. "He's been waiting for us. Look there. You can't possibly miss him." A smile shined in his old eyes.

Pyro glanced out the window again and almost immediately spotted this 'Sabertooth' character. He was astonishingly tall, with long hair and a broad build; unmistakably the brute of a man that Mystique had taken the shape of on more than one occasion during their trip. He continued to stare as Mystique expertly landed the aircraft on a small, flat area of the island close to where Sabertooth was standing. They made a quick exit and entered the building.

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"Hello, Sabertooth. You haven't changed a bit," greeted Magneto, patting Sabertooth on the shoulder. "I trust I was missed during my little vacation."

Sabertooth said nothing.

"I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our team – Pyro. He needs a room, a meal, and a change of clothes," explained the old mutant. "I trust you and Mystique will be able to take care of his needs while I get myself situated?"

Pyro shook his head as both Sabertooth and Mystique gave no audible response other than a slight nod. Didn't these people _speak_? Nevertheless, he followed them down the hall as Magneto headed in the opposite direction. A few corridors passed, then Sabertooth suddenly turned down a different passage – leaving Pyro alone with Miss Anti-Social herself.

"So… you related to blue guy?" he asked nonchalantly, not even expecting a response. "I mean, the blue skin… yellow eyes…"

"He's my son," replied Mystique in her bizarre, echoing voice.

The young man stopped walking in surprise while Mystique took a few more steps, halted, and turned to look at him. She changed into Kurt Wagner and said, "Ze resemblance is uncanny, don't you zink?"

"I'd say he's a shade darker," responded Pyro as he regained his composure.

Mystique returned to her own form and continued walking, forcing Pyro to jog after her.

"But you don't seem old enough," he protested.

"I'm older thank you think," she replied without turning around. "Where my body hasn't aged, my mind has."

"Like Logan?"

Mystique gave him a sideways glance. "Maybe." Here followed a long silence, and then the blue-scaled woman gave Pyro the first genuine, non-condescending smile he had seen on her face as she mused, "Only a son of mine could break into the President's oval office like that."

Pyro chuckled in response, then frowned as he began to hear whispers trailing behind him. They were barely perceptible, and Mystique either didn't hear them or didn't choose to acknowledge them.

"Look at him."

"Fresh meat."

"He's not so tough."

"So weak."

"He doesn't belong here."

"Let's throw him out."

"Piece of trash."

Pyro stopped walking and turned around. The whispers stopped. When he continued forward, the murmurs continued, and he heard doors creaking open. His head whipped around only to see the doors along the corridor slam shut. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

With a shake of her head, Mystique responded, "The others like to play tricks on new recruits."

"Others?" The young man glanced around anxiously.

"Here is your room," said his blue-scaled escort. She stood before a door marked B26. "You'll meet the others soon enough. If you manage to find a friendly one, everything will be explained."

Pyro nodded, opened the rusted door, and uncertainly stepped inside. When he looked back, Mystique was gone.

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The room was small and quaint, but it had the one thing that Xavier's school could never give him – solitude. He had shared a room with Bobby and sometimes one or two new students who hadn't yet been settled in… but this! Oh, independence. It even had its own bathroom!

"Nice," said Pyro to himself. He sat on the steel-framed bed and took a deep, calming breath. The air smelled like burnt wood, metal, and that salty odor of the sea. A set of clothes was on the end of the bed – jeans and a t-shirt. He took a quick shower and changed into the offered clothing items, then exited the room.

As soon as he stepped into the corridor, doors slammed shut. He looked up and down the hall, bewildered, and then a single door opened just enough for an eye to peek out at him.

"Hey!" he called, running forward. The door closed in his face, but before the lock could turn he smashed his fists against the metal. It popped open and Pyro stepped in before he could be shut out again.

Before him stood a boy of about fourteen. He stared at Pyro with a blank look on his face, then he held up his hand, palm outward, and blinked.

Pyro yelled in surprise as a bolt of electricity struck him in the chest, tossing him backwards. He broke through the door on the opposite side of the hall, landing in a heap inside the room. Two teenage girls jumped up and stood over him, sniggering as he twitched on the floor.

"I see you've met Volt," said one of them – a blonde girl with sea green eyes.

Her friend – a brunette with cobalt eyes – laughed and added, "He's a little… shocking at first."

Pyro choked out a vague response as his body continued to buzz with electrical energy. Eventually, he pulled himself into a sitting position and glared at the mutants who had gathered around him.

"Are you alright?" asked one of them, a young man of about Pyro's age. He held out his hand and Pyro accepted it, thankful that the fellow mutant didn't just drop him to the ground again. "You'll have to steer clear of Volt. He doesn't trust strangers right off."

"I noticed," replied Pyro quietly as he smoothed down his hair and felt his back pocket for his lighter, only to find that one of the girls was waving it in front of his face – the blonde one. "Hey! Gimme that!" He lunged for it, but she sidestepped and he missed completely.

"Tsk, tsk," she tutted. "Ask nicely."

Pyro narrowed his eyes, but she was impervious. After a lengthy debate with his ego, he mumbled, "Please?"

She tossed the lighter to him and winked. When she did, a spray of water materialized out of nowhere and drenched him. At the indignant expression on his face, she merely puckered her lips and blew him a mocking kiss. "Down, boy."

"Don't mind them. Come on, I'll show you around," said the young man who had helped Pyro to his feet. "The name's Twist."

"Why's that, Twist?" asked Pyro, pocketing his lighter.

Twist raised an eyebrow. "Demonstration?"

"Please, be my guest."

With a smirk, Twist raised both hands to his mouth and blew into them. When he parted his hands, a small cyclone of dust sprung to life. It went round and round in a stretching circle until it engulfed the blonde girl in a swirl of wind. Her shirt flew up and off of her head, exposing her black lace bra. She shouted in resentment, and the tornado dissipated.

"You jerk!" yelled the blonde. She hit Twist on the shoulder and marched over to her bureau to retrieve another shirt, but seemed more amused than anything.

Pyro watched her with fascination. Her back was scaly, almost like Mystique's, though they weren't blue, and they grew in small, silvery patches. The rest of her skin was normal. Just beneath her breasts were two slits of skin that moved up and down in fluid motions. They were gills.

"You'll have to excuse Finn," explained Twist with a grin. "If you smell fish, don't think it's dinner."

Finn stuck her tongue out at the both of them, then gave Pyro a furtive wink – this time with no complimentary shower. He returned a weak grin.

"Come on, let's go. I'll show you around," urged Twist, putting a hand upon Pyro's shoulder.

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Twist gave Pyro the Reader's Digest version of the tour. Basically, the three highest levels were free for roaming. Approximately twelve mutants lived on the island, four of which were the leaders – Mystique, Sabertooth, Toad, and Magneto. There were few rules except to stay off of the fourth floor and up, and to never question or disobey the orders of Mystique, Sabertooth, Toad, or Magneto. The highest levels branched off of the main building into a large, forbidden place that no one had entered save the four leaders of the Brotherhood.

The mess hall was located in the middle of the third floor, and they served relatively good food there (as long as you avoided anything that Toad had touched first). A recreation area was located on the third floor as well – a small terrace had been dug out of the side of the island and it was the only place on the isle where grass grew. There was a basketball court, multi-purpose field, and picnic tables. As a side note, Twist had added that there was a ten-foot fence that set off another grassy area from the public one which was _never_ to be entered. Rumor was that Mystique spent most of her time there, and it was supported by several reports that they heard her shifting behind the wall.

A large indoor pool was situated on the second floor. It was seldom used by anybody but Finn and Toad, who were apparently third cousins or something along those lines. On all sides of the swimming pool were video games, televisions, billiard tables, and the like. Other than that, everything was straightforward.

"Yeah, so now you know where you're going," finished Twist, standing before a row of billiard tables. "Oh, and watch out for the twins. They're about eleven, and they can throw their voices."

"Is that their power?" asked Pyro.

"No. They're telepaths, but they haven't learned much control yet," explained Twist. "They can drive you mad pretty quickly, so tell us if you hear voices."

"Will do."

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Toad watched with growing interest as Mystique walked across the metal bridge towards her room. Whereas she usually strode with an air of confidence and danger, she now simply… _plodded_ along with her eyes half-closed. He leapt forward several meters and began to walk alongside her. "Tired?" he asked, already knowing how she would answer.

"No." The blue-scaled mutant picked up her pace and tried to act like normal.

"You look tired."

"I'm not tired."

"Come on, Myssie!" She scowled at the nickname, but he continued, "You've been working for three weeks nonstop – hardly ever as yourself, I might add."

Mystique ignored him.

"Give yourself a break. It's not like Mr. High-and-Mighty will give you one, and you're about to collapse," warned Toad in his brusque British accent. "Now listen, we've been annoying each other for eighteen years, and I never seen you this dead beat before."

"I'm. Not. Tired. Get away from me," snarled Mystique, tripping her companion with a swift sweep of her slender leg. He cried out in surprise as he hit the ground, and she marched on without looking back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So is this place like a school or what?" asked Pyro as he played ping-pong with Twist.

"Nah, not really. I mean, it's not like Mystique comes in and teaches us the basics of trigonometry or anything like that, but she will occasionally give us texts on what we need to know to be a mutant in this world; what we need to know to work for Magneto's cause," answered Twist.

"And what exactly is Magneto's cause?"

Twist hit the ping pong ball especially hard, causing it to bounce past Pyro as he answered: "Mutant superiority." He placed his paddle on the green table and sat down. "Before I came here, I lived with my parents. My dad was always drunk and beat my mom. One night, he beat her so bad that she went into a coma. I was in a blind rage and… that was the first time I created a tornado. It was an F-4. I couldn't control my powers at all, so it tore down my neighborhood. People got hurt, and I was accused of doing it on purpose. I was called 'freak', 'abomination', 'demon'. They tried to kill me, but I got away… with this." He lifted his shirt to show a thick scar in his side. "Shot by my own father's hand. If Magneto hadn't found me, I would've died. The damn bullet was wedged in there… lucky it was metal."

Pyro placed a hand on his shoulder in empathy. "And here I thought _my_ life was bad."

"All of us here have similar stories around here. We're taught to take that shit and turn it against them. Anger is the key – that's our adage." Twist winked playfully at Finn and her brunette friend as they walked by. "And it works."

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Pyro returned to his room soon after his conversation with Twist and took a long, satisfying nap. When he woke up, it was dark outside. He poked his head into the hallway to see what the other residents were doing. There were no familiar faces to be found. Others were milling about, talking and laughing amongst themselves. The young mutant stepped into the hall and pulled out his lighter. Click-thack. Click-thack.

"Excuse me," said a voice.

"Hm?" Pyro glanced over to see the brunette friend of Finn standing there.

"Magneto wants to see you," explained the young woman. "My name is Switch." She held out her hand.

"What's your power?" he asked.

"I'm a Shifter, like Mystique," replied the young woman with a toothy grin.

"Really? So… are you Shifting right now?"

"Oh no, I'm not able to stay in form for very long like Mystique. I'm nowhere near as powerful as she. Magneto gave us all digital image synthesizers, or so he calls them. See?" The young woman held up her arm to show him the silver watch on her wrist. "This is what controls it. All I have to do is push the button and…"

Pyro stifled a surprised sound as Switch pressed the face of her watch and abruptly became a naked, purple-skinned mutant with dark blue hair. "Wow," he finally managed to say after a long while. "I didn't see that coming…"

"We're all a little more… colorful thank you'd expect around here," replied Switch with a raffish wink. "Twist, Finn, the twins – all of us wear these things." She pressed the button again and returned to her humanoid form. "You honestly didn't believe so many attractive young individuals could exist in one place, hm?" Her point was accentuated with a jaunty wink. "Finn's synthesizer is messed up, and what's why you can see the scales on her back, but Toad has been trying to fix it."

"Mmhmm," mumbled Pyro, shaking his head as if it would help him comprehend what was going on.

"Anyway, let's go. All the newcomers get called to Magneto's chamber for a talk. He just wants to make sure you're in the same mindset as the rest of us."

Pyro nodded as he followed Switch down the corridor, unsure of what to make of this place. It sure as hell wasn't Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children.


End file.
